But I digress… My own trip has certainly been interesting! I took some looong bus rides…

Via Indianapolis…

Through Chicago’s historic Union Station

Where I caught this moment…

Then it was on to Washington State in the Northwest where I saw some gorgeous cityscapes …

Got to check out some amazing aircraft up close and personal…

…suffice to say that it has been eventful 🙂

This being summer, temperatures have been lovely, if not a tad too hot and sticky right now.

One of the things I really admire about the American psyche is their unashamed patriotism. Around every corner, American flags flutter in the wind, hanging off buildings, front porches, peoples’ cars. Americana is all around me, I don’t need to go looking. It strikes you (gently though :)) right in the face.

Truth be told, it is infectious. You can’t help but admire it. As for me, having been here for an unexpectedly long duration this time, I can’t escape its ubiquity; I can’t help but get infected 😉

So, enjoy this first installment of my post from “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.”

I will share images from the second half of my trip, to the great American Midwest and the Palmetto State, soon…

Yesterday evening, I had the privilege of shooting with a truly wonderful person. Miss M works at a well known hair salon in my locale. We had become acquainted a few months ago. I noticed her as “the new girl” (I get my hair cut and my wife gets her nails done there so I know all the regulars).

Something was different about this girl though. She had a quiet confidence about her. Not arrogance but rather an inherent self-assurance coupled with what I sensed was a gentle spirit. I am seldom wrong aboit personalities 🙂 My curiosity was officially piqued…

What I didn’t know about her was that she is also a gifted gospel music singer…soon releasing her first single.

To top it off, it turned out that she was also a trained model! I rarely shot with pro models. Not for lack of them but because I have many friends who simply love photos so I always have a willing amateur model available. I though she would join that list of happy campers but she had that ace up her sleeve. It was a pleasant surprise, then.

I got home from work and immediately set up while she went to get her brother who happened to be visiting from out of town. The timing was perfect; she had a day off, I had an extra pair of hands if I needed, I was set to leave my office on time (in my other life I have an 8-5 job ;)) and best of all, I was psyched!

It has been a while since I wrote a full blog post, so perhaps I should just pause shut up now and let the pictures tell their thousand words. This is, after all, a photography weblog 😉

I hope you’ve enjoyed viewing the images as much as I enjoyed capturing them…

Yesterday I was at an old friend’s inaugural photo exhibition. The usual suspects (read OneTouch crew) were in attendance.

While chatting with#aFewGoodMen, I felt really challenged by two of them about my social media habits. Especially my blogging.

This year I made up my mind, would be the year of the Personal Project for me. I’ll shoot a lot more for myself and if while I’m at it, a client comes along, I will happily accommodate them.

Higher SNR

In electrical engineering there is what’s called SNR – Signal to Noise Ratio. What that means in simple terms, is that when you transmit some information electrically, it has a bit of “dirt.” Sort of like those days when I would shoot film and carefully develop it, only to find little specs of dust on some of the negatives. I would painstakingly clean them before making a print.

So too in this age of information glut. I decided I will not just post volume but substance. I have no intention of blogging for its own sake. I want to blog usefully. Minimal noise, maximum signal.

The photo I have posted here is a screenshot from the post-processing of a portfolio shoot I did earlier this year. It serves two purposes here:

It is a BTS (Behind The Scenes) shot, yielding a glimpse into what goes on after you press the shutter.

More importantly, it is a symbol of reducing “noise” (culling less than perfect images) and increasing “signal.”

This year I’ll blog more, but I’ll try to make sure I am transmitting signal. Not noise.

I have been test driving my Samsung Galaxy camera over the past few weeks. When I day test driving, think real-world use. I haven’t been shooting any target charts, no MTFs, no chromatic aberration tests. Just randomly picking it up and taking deliberate photos. Popping it into my jacket pocket and stepping out in these sub-zero temperatures to take photos.

So far, I have been very happy with it. Shutter lag was one of the biggest downers to all the compact cameras I had handled. Not any more. Once it focuses, which it does effortlessly, you press, it captures.

Over the years, I have been really blessed to have travelled to just about every continent, for various projects.

One place I have really come to love is Brazil. It is such a vast land, with such vast differences in culture, tradition and landscape…

What really draws me is that wherever you go, you feel like you belong. The people are so friendly. They may not speak much English, but the language of friendship is universal. You can feel their warmth and tangibly sense their desire to want to help, language barriers notwithstanding!

It’s a land of colour, literally and figuratively. I think the term melting pot really comes to life here. It’s a country amalgamated from people of every culture and background you can think of. You will find people with unmistakably Japanese features who don’t speak a word of Japanese. They only speak Portuguese. You will find ‘native’…

Over the years, I have been really blessed to have travelled to just about every continent, for various projects.

One place I have really come to love is Brazil. It is such a vast land, with such vast differences in culture, tradition and landscape…

What really draws me is that wherever you go, you feel like you belong. The people are so friendly. They may not speak much English, but the language of friendship is universal. You can feel their warmth and tangibly sense their desire to want to help, language barriers notwithstanding!

It’s a land of colour, literally and figuratively. I think the term melting pot really comes to life here. It’s a country amalgamated from people of every culture and background you can think of. You will find people with unmistakably Japanese features who don’t speak a word of Japanese. They only speak Portuguese. You will find ‘native’…

Over the years, I have been really blessed to have travelled to just about every continent, for various projects.

One place I have really come to love is Brazil. It is such a vast land, with such vast differences in culture, tradition and landscape…

What really draws me is that wherever you go, you feel like you belong. The people are so friendly. They may not speak much English, but the language of friendship is universal. You can feel their warmth and tangibly sense their desire to want to help, language barriers notwithstanding!

It’s a land of colour, literally and figuratively. I think the term melting pot really comes to life here. It’s a country amalgamated from people of every culture and background you can think of. You will find people with unmistakably Japanese features who don’t speak a word of Japanese. They only speak Portuguese. You will find ‘native’…

Just before my trip to the wintry Midwest US earlier this month, I won myself a Samsung Galaxy camera at Safaricom’s exclusive 2014 calendar launch. The theme was Capture Kenya and the idea was brilliant and groundbreaking. 4 photographers, 7 days, covering the diversity of Kenya. I knew 3 of those 4, and I knew their work is superb. I also knew my flight was not until the wee hours of the morning, so I was elated to have been able to attend.

The launch even itself was superbly thought out. Since the calendar could only showcase a dozen images, the exhibition showcased all the rest. Suffice it to say that the folks responsible for selecting the photos had a very tough job!

If I were you, I would beg borrow or steal that calendar 😉

I digressed. The title of this post (replete with the “hip” and hype of a hashtag), is a lead-in to my latest project. I have been wanting a compact camera for some time now. Lugging around my dSLRs especially for travel, can be cumbersome. Don’t get me wrong, I love them to bits. Their versatility and control is unparalleled. They really are great enablers for my vision-capturing exploits as a photographer. It’s just that sometimes I want to carry a bit less than my now-standard 10kg (22 lbs) that I have become accustomed to hefting all over the globe, be it for a 3-day photo shoot or a 45-minute concert.

I have been eyeing a Canon G series for years but every time, it gets overtaken by other priorities. So this was my chance to really put a modern compact camera through its paces.

You can read the full technical specs of this camera here at this LINK.

Since this is a photography blog, I won’t get into those here. What I will do is share some images I have taken so far…

Verdict? Well, let’s just say I have been more than impressed so far. 21x optical zoom, a macro mode, a very easy interface (read Samsung Android smartphone UI), all add up to a great feature-set. I have recorded a few videos on it too and I honestly have not yet found a major gripe.

Rest assured, I will be expanding this portfolio in the coming days and weeks.

Didn’t I promise it’s a new year with new habits? 😉 Without further ado, here are many more photos from the airshow at Joint Base Lewis McChord. I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed capturing them…

Some months ago, I had the pleasure of attending an airshow at an Air Force Base in the North West US. Here are a few images I took. To be honest, I’ve been so busy that I hadn’t had time to get through them all. But it’s a new year 😉 and I will definitely post a lot more from this fantastic event.

Above: F-16 on static display. This particular Fighting Falcon is one of the Thunderbirds, the US Air Force’s aerial demonstration squadron.

Above: Low-level flypast

Above: Simulated assault mission (loved the pyrotechnics!)

More to come, very soon! I really enjoy reading your comments so go ahead and drop a line! 🙂